Stapleford?

[NigelS]

After hearing opinion here on various schools I'm now considering (amongst others) Stapleford. OATS is definitely off my list!

Anyone have any views one way or the other??

Thanks

Nigel

[Harold Bishop]

I fly at Stapleford at the moment. The school is friendly with good facilities, the aircraft are always in good condition and the instructors friendly. Go down and have a look, or drop me a mail with any specific questions.

[Manflex55]

Can tell U a couple of things about Stapleford.

Got in touch with Annabel Winter (Chief Flying Instructor... or @ least she was @ the time). Very nice & helpful person.

What I liked :
* Not far from central London by tube (55mn between Theydon Bois & Oxford Circus on Central line)
* VOR on field
* Nice training a/cs (Warriors & Senecas)
* Local Class 1 AME (Dr P K Orton)
* Decent hourly rates for ME training
(£245 for MECR, £282 for MEIR)
* Accomodation available on site for £10 a day (or a night !!)

What I liked less :
* A/p very close to the congested London airspace (=> limited "freedom")
* No ILS or NDB on field : the approaches are made @ EGMC, 20nm to the E
* Couldn't find any nearby B&B in case school accomodation is fully booked
* SE hourly rates are not as good : £160 for the Warrior, £170 for the Arrow, used as the "Complex" type

Overall, they have still some of the best deals in the country :
* £3,790 for the CPL (£800 less than OATS' rip off)
* £8,440 for the MEIR (£5,000 less than OATS's MAJOR LEAGUE RIP OFF).

MF

[Luke SkyToddler]

Trained at STL a couple of years back for the CPL and IR, thought they were great. Minimum hassle, dead cheap (especially for the south east!), and I jumped through all the required hoops with minimum time and expense and first time passes all round. I'm not even sure if he's still there, but Eric Thurston is the man - he's a pedantic old sod but he's got a damn near magical reputation when it comes to IR first-time-pass strike rate.

It is possibly not the right place for people who need to have things explained to them 10 times over, and have an instructor bully them into self studying and generally hold their hand every step of the way, because that won't happen - but if you know what you want and how to go about getting it then it comes highly recommended.